A Parent’s Thanks

Five years ago, I first heard the words Educational Coaching Methodology. They came from my youngest son’s new teacher during the presentation meeting for the 1st grade, Professor Susana Garcês. We didn’t see her wide smile behind the mask, but we felt the warmth of an overflowing sentiment during that presentation: love.

She explained to us that she had been a teacher for many years and used a methodology. Through this method and its tools, it was possible to help students reach their greatest potential, requiring teamwork between the teacher, the parents, and, of course, the student.

For this teacher, my son wasn’t just a number in a classroom, in a school, or the evaluation of a worksheet. He was an individual, a unique being with emotions who would work on his learning but, beyond that, would work on reaching his greatest potential.

And that is what Professor Susana taught us and, most importantly, what he felt and experienced during the next four school years. On the first day, I could never have imagined how hard it would be to reach the last day and how sad it would be to leave her and move on to the fifth grade.

The impact of this way of teaching on everyone around her and Susana’s choice to live her life following a Christian purpose of helping others should spread across the world and echo for eternity. She chooses to teach with her heart, without judgment, and she is still a blessing in our lives.

It will never be enough to say: Thank you for believing in him and for him still repeating it every day.

- Patrícia Barato, testimony of Salvador’s mother